Former boxer Chris Eubank was arrested yesterday during a one-man protest against the military occupation of Iraq.

The flamboyant showman backed his huge truck outside Downing Street and sounded his horn for about a minute.

He then drove off before returning for a second time but was promptly arrested after reversing into a delivery van and sounding his horn again.

After being ordered out of his truck, Eubank held both fists in the air as he was was driven away in a police car.

Eubank, the former world middleweight champion, had earlier pleaded with officers to arrest him.

After arriving for the first time in his truck, which bore the slogan "Tony Blair military occupation causes terrorism", a policeman told him: "I am issuing you with a ticket and asking you to produce your licence and papers within seven days."

Eubank, wearing a black suit with red pinstripes, replied in his characteristic lisp: "But officer, you must arrest me."

Speaking before his arrest, Eubank described himself as "a man of many talents".

On Iraq he said: "The military occupation doesn't work. All it does is cause more terror.

"If I come in to your house with a gun, people will react against me. It's called terrorism."

Eubank, who has converted to Islam in recent years, also described himself as "a man of many faiths".

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "At 4.30pm a blue articulated vehicle parked outside Downing Street, blocking the gates. The vehicle then drove around Parliament Square and returned to Downing Street where it stopped again.

"The driver was spoken to by officers at the scene and was reported for driving without due care and attention and failing to stop for police."

A spokesman for Eubank later said he was being held at Charing Cross police station.